Digital Literacy: Fake News 1

Introduction

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack

Rowan: My name’s Rowan

Rich: and I’m Rich and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast.

Jack: In the Premier Skills English podcast, we talk about football and help you with your English.

Rowan: Don’t forget you can find the transcript for all our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website.

Rich: This week we are revisiting our series of podcasts connected to digital literacy.

Jack: Digital literacy is the ability to find and evaluate online information and also your ability to collaborate online and create your own online information.

Rowan: A few weeks ago, in our roleplays, we looked at functional skills and how good the three of us were with technology.

Rich: Ah, yes, I remember. Rowan was the expert - a technical whizz and we were the technophobes - hopeless with technology.

Jack: I hope all our listeners know this is not true! We’re all technical whizzes really! Anyway, this week we’re going to look more at how we evaluate the information we watch and read online.

Rowan: It’s important that we think about what we come across online. We need to evaluate what we read because not everything that is online is true.

Rich: You’re talking about fake news.

Jack: Yes, but it’s not just fake news that’s the problem. There’s all sorts of information online that you shouldn’t believe; false information.

Rowan: Fake news is usually connected with politics but false information covers other topics such as health, the environment and even entertainment or sport. It’s information that has the intention to mislead or deceive people that read it.

Jack: False information can be anything from a fun parody website to clickbait to propaganda. We’ll look at this language later on.

Rich: So, it’s important to be able to evaluate what we see online to make sure we’re not misled, deceived or tricked.

Rowan: In this week’s roleplay, Rich is tricked into believing something that is not true.

Jack: This week’s podcast comes in two parts. After each part, we have a task for you to do which will give you a chance to talk about the topic and the language which we will introduce.

Rich: On the Premier Skills English website, you’ll be able to find all these podcasts and the transcripts and extra activities that go with them.

Rowan: So if you are listening to us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or any other podcast platform, check out our website!

Jack: And don’t forget to listen to the end of the podcast because we have a new football phrase for you to guess!

SOCIAL

Jack: Before we start this week’s roleplay we’d just like to thank everyone for all their comments on the Premier Skills English website. It’s great to know that you’re enjoying the podcasts and all of the free learning materials we have on the site.

Rich: We’d like to give a shout-out to some of our listeners and tell everyone what they’ve been saying.

Rowan: The first person I’d like to say a big hello to is Emanuel Kwarteng from Ghana. Emanuel told us a story last week about his trainers getting stuck in the mud in a huge rainstorm. I have a question for you Emanuel. Did you get your trainers back?

Jack: I’d like to say hi to Vic from Mexico. He told us about the extreme weather he encountered in Germany a few years ago. It was so cold, Vic had to cancel all his plans and stay in the hotel. I’m sure it wasn’t as warm as you are used to in Mexico, Vic.

Rich: Finally I’d like to say thanks to Abdlrhmn in Egypt who was one of many who completed our task last week. His idea is to ban cars and other vehicles for one day every week. He says it would be better for our health and the environment.

Rowan: This was the task about climate change in your country and what can be done about it. You can find this podcast and task in skills and then the listen section on the Premier Skills English website.

Jack: OK, I think it’s time to reveal last week’s football phrase and see who got the right answer.

Last Week’s football Phrase

Rich: Right, our football phrase. If you’ve not listened to the podcast before, every week we set our listeners a challenge. We explain a football phrase or word and you have to guess what it is.

Rowan: When you know the answer, go to the podcast page on the Premier Skills English website and write the word or phrase in the comments. If you’re correct we’ll announce your name on next week’s podcast.

Jack: Thanks for all your answers and guesses last week. The first listener with the correct answer was MoBeckham from Turkey. Well done Mo. We know that you are a big Manchester United fan so we’re not surprised that you were first this week.

Rowan: Congratulations also go to Tiago Delazari from Brazil, Gil_foot and Emmanuel from France, Richard J from Ecuador, Capred and Anvd1110 from Vietnam, Abdlrhmn and Mon from Egypt, Marco Zapien from Mexico, Mayu from Japan, Emmanuel Kwarteng from Ghana, Bagas from Indonesia, HSN from Turkey, and Dallas from the Cape Verde Islands.

Rich: Later on, at the end of the podcast, we’ll have this week’s football phrase for you but for now here’s the answer to last week’s challenge.

Jack: Last week’s football phrase was welcome home. This phrase is not exactly a football phrase but it is one that you will see a lot if you read about Cristiano Ronaldo and his return to Manchester United. This phrase is used as a greeting to tell someone that you are happy that they have returned. I saw lots of fan-made signs saying welcome home Cristiano at their match last weekend.

Rowan: Are you going to watch Ronaldo’s second debut for United this weekend?

Introduction to Roleplay

Rich: As we said earlier, in this week’s roleplay we’re talking about false information and not believing everything you see online.

Jack: You are about to hear this week’s first roleplay. I’m talking to Rowan while we wait for a bus.

Rich: While you listen we want you to answer a question: The question is: Which player do I think is signing for Liverpool?

Roleplay

Rowan: The bus is late … it should have been here a quarter of an hour ago.

Jack: Three will probably arrive at the same time. It’s what always happens.

Rowan: What are you looking at?

Jack: I’m just catching up on the latest transfer news.

Rowan: I never read that - you should just wait until it happens. It’s all rumours - just gossip.

Jack: I know but at least I know it’s just gossip. Have you seen some of the stuff Rich shares? Do you follow him?

Rowan: Unfortunately, yes. It’s a load of rubbish usually and it’s not just football - anti-vaccine stuff, 5G mobile phones - it’ll be aliens next.

Jack: But it’s mainly football and he always falls for everything he reads - he’s so gullible. Did you see what he shared yesterday?

Rowan: I know - sharing that article about Messi signing for Liverpool. He thinks it’s true. He said that he was off to get Messi on the back of his Liverpool shirt.

Jack: I don’t know how he’s tricked into believing these things. Isn’t it really obvious that these articles are all made -up? He’s not that naive normally, is he?

Rowan: To be honest, I think he deceives himself because he wants to believe it. It’s really common, not just in football, people are drawn to articles that they want to believe. It’s confirmation bias - people confirm their own biases.

Jack: Maybe we should speak to him about it. He can’t be taken in so easily. Maybe he hasn’t been - perhaps he’s just joking.

Rowan: Here’s the bus now - Rich should be on it.

Jack: Yeah, he’s there - in his Liverpool shirt ... Oh no!

Rowan: What’s up?

Jack: It says Messi on the back.

Rowan: We’re going to have to talk to him about this.

Language Focus

Jack: Before the roleplay, we asked you a question. The question was: Which player does Rich think is signing for Liverpool?

Rich: Well, the answer is Lionel Messi.

Rowan: He’s read it on an obscure website and thinks it’s true. He’s then shared it with the world as he usually does.

Jack: An obscure website - obscure - that’s an adjective worth looking at in more detail.

Rowan: Obscure is used to describe something that is not well-known. I’m sure you’ve all heard of Shakespeare plays like Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet but you may not know some of his more obscure plays such as Cymbeline or Coriolanus.

Rich: When I play the computer game football manager I like to take an obscure fourth division team all the way to the Premier League.

Jack: Let’s look at some of the vocabulary we used in the roleplay. Let’s start with a couple of nouns we use to describe information we hear that may or may not be true.

Rich: Listen to this part of the roleplay again:

Jack: I’m just catching up on the latest transfer news.

Rowan: I never read that - you should just wait until it happens. It’s all rumours - just gossip.

Rich: The nouns in question that we use to describe information that may or may not be true are rumour and gossip.

Jack: A rumour is a countable noun. Someone can start a rumour, people can spread rumours or we might hear a rumour about something or someone.

Rowan: Gossip is usually an uncountable noun. It’s usually used to describe informal talk about other people that may or may not be true. We might say something like Have you heard the latest gossip about this person or that person?

Rich: It’s usually not nice to gossip or to be a gossip because we are talking about things that we don’t know are true and we don’t have all the facts.

Jack: In the roleplay, we were talking about Rich believing this gossip and taking it as fact and then sharing it. We said he believes things too easily.

Rowan: We used a few phrases to describe how easily Rich believes things. Let’s look at those phrases now.

Rich: Jack said I’m tricked into believing things too easily. When you are tricked into something you are made to do something by a trick or trap of some kind.

Jack: Rich looks at a headline and is immediately tricked into believing that the story is true and shares it online.

Rowan: We used some similar words and phrases to trick into in the roleplay such as fall for, taken in and deceived.

Rich: Deceived again means to be made to believe something that is not true.

Jack: Rich is often taken in. He is deceived by things. To be taken in by something is a phrasal verb which means to be deceived by something.

Rowan: And another phrasal verb with a similar meaning is to fall for something. In the roleplay, Rich fell for the story about Messi joining Liverpool. He believed it even though it was not true. He was deceived.

Rich: OK, so we’re going to finish off this language focus with how Jack and Rowan described me in the roleplay. They used two adjectives: naive and gullible.

Rowan: Listen to this part of the roleplay again and think about what gullible and naive mean:

Jack: But it’s mainly football and he falls for it all - he’s so gullible. Did you see what he shared yesterday?

Rowan: I know - sharing the article about Messi signing for Liverpool. He thinks it’s true. He said that he was off to get Messi on the back of his Liverpool shirt.

Jack: I don’t know how he’s tricked into believing these things. Isn’t it really obvious that these articles are all made-up? He’s not that naive normally, is he?

Rich: Yes, you can probably guess. Both naive and gullible are adjectives to describe people that believe things too easily. Both of these adjectives are used in a negative way.

Rowan: OK, I think that is enough language for now. You can look at this vocabulary in more detail on the Premier Skills English website. You’ll also find free activities, the transcript and a quiz to help you understand.

TASK

Jack: Right, it’s time for your task. In the roleplay you just heard, Rich believed something that wasn’t true. Your task is to tell us about a time when you believed something to be true when it wasn’t.

Rich: What did you believe to be true that wasn’t?

Rowan: Who did you tell? Did you share the story online?

Jack: How did you discover that it wasn’t true? What did you do and how did you feel?

Rich: Do you consider yourself to be gullible or naive sometimes?

Rowan: Write all your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website.

Football Phrase

Jack: OK, it’s time for our football phrase. If you’ve not listened to the podcast before, every week we set our listeners a challenge. We explain a football phrase or word and you have to guess what it is.

Rich: You will hear this football phrase in every podcast we release this week.

Rowan: When you know the answer, go to the podcast page on the Premier Skills English website or the review section on Apple Podcasts and write the word or phrase in the comments. If you’re correct we’ll announce your name on next week’s podcast.

Jack: So what is this week’s football phrase, Rich?

Rich: This week’s football phrase is *** **** ** * ****. This phrase is a very common cliche and is often used in interviews by managers after winning a match. The journalist asks if the team are going to do well this season, or win the league or cup and the manager says something like ‘we can’t look that far ahead … we just need to take *** **** ** * **** and see where that takes us. The cliche is used by managers because they don’t want the team to get too confident and lose concentration in matches that, in theory, should be easy.

Rowan: A more difficult phrase this week. If you have a football phrase that you would like us to use in the podcast, just get in touch and let us know.

Jack: Before we finish we just wanted to say that we hope you found this lesson useful and we hope all of you stay fit and healthy.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football.